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The Science of Love-Valentines Day Special

Happy Valentines Day, Every Day the 14th- Press play for some background music whilst you read.

Firstly, I apologise to all you geeks out in the ether that have gone almost two weeks without a post, oh the pain lol No, really, I am sorry for the longer than planned hiatus, it was my birthday week, and then it so happens that I know a lot of Aquarians and the ball just kept on rolling. I have it under control now.

I don’t know about you all, but I am definitely still trying to understand why love makes some people act all crazy, sane, silly, retarded, relaxed, delirious, happy and sometimes it just makes no sense, no sense at all!!! We have all had/seen/heard of those moments when the brain/logic should just say no but somehow it is not that easy…

So, I did a little research, as you do, and came across a paper by an incredible lady by the name of Dr Helen Fisher. She has made it her life’s mission to understand love scientifically and officially and she is not doing a bad job. I read her paper, however, it is a very big read. Anyway, I figured that kind of research must be on Ted by now and of-course, it was! It is sexy science after-all. I love sexy science. Everyone loves sexy science.

Click play and learn a little more about what Love actually means, so you can really impress your date tonight. See how good I am too you all after-all. Be good to your friends and share it please.

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We lost one of the greats two days ago, no-one made me want to be in-love with a married man at a young age like Whitney did lol. This is her at the 1986 Grammys. May you rest in perfect peace. Thank you for sharing your gift with us all.

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One more thing, Doctors will tell you that Valentines day see’s the highest rate of attempted suicides. A lot of people feel a huge amount of pressure on this day. Whitney said it, the GREATEST LOVE is to LEARN to love your SELF. So I am posting this song too.

2 thoughts on “The Science of Love-Valentines Day Special”

So I have been receiving messages all day from geeks asking me to explain Dr Fishers research a little bit more. I am glad you all found this post so interesting, really, really, hope this is not ammunition research for some some break-ups but more for make-ups. :-). Anyway, here it goes;

In order to look at how a brain in love functions, Fisher and her team used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This technique allowed them to take snapshots of the brain while volunteers were shown photographs of their lover. When looking at the brains of men or women who were happily in love, Fisher found that specific regions associated with goal‐oriented behaviours lit up. This suggested to her that love is not an emotion but a motivation. Being in love motivates you to be with your lover. This is basically the biological basis of falling madly in love, romantic right? lol

Delving deeper, it turns out that these activated areas are rich in neurons that produce the brain chemical dopamine. Like serotonin and adrenaline, dopamine is a neurotransmitter involved in sending signals from one neuron to another. These chemicals tend to be specific in what they do, and dopamine is known to play a major role in the brain’s ability to experience PLEASURE. It is also associated with ADDICTION. For example, cocaine elicits its effect by increasing dopamine levels in the brain. One behavioural characteristic of addiction is the need, or craving, for more of whatever made you feel so great in the first place. Therefore, is it surprising that we crave to fall in love, and stay in love, making this our single most important “chase”.

However, what happens when the tables are turned and you’re dumped? It is really simple, that once a constructive addiction becomes a destructive one. This is when the “crazy” comes in, and I use that word lightly as I am bearing in mind some people have been driven to the point of homicide or suicide, a sign that something is going seriously wrong in their brains.

Dr Fisher, who is a don by the way, decided to try and figure this out using her fMRI based approach. What she found is crazy, she noticed that areas of the brain previously associated with cocaine cravings lit up in her heartbroken subjects’ brains. However, the study also found that there is more to heartbreak than the effects of going ‘cold turkey’. When shown a picture of their ex, the participants’ brains showed activity in regions associated with emotions such as sadness and depression. They were grieving.

Now, imagine grief, which often manifests as denial, anger or protest, coupled with a sudden withdrawal of the object of one’s addiction aka affection. The brain goes into overdrive, therefore no wonder some people go “crazy” with lack of sleep, low productivity, depression etc. I personally loose weight, hearbreak and stress cause me to loos my appetite, I feel hungry, look at the food and something in my brains goes “uuurrrghhhhh”. Crazy, but true.